Recipe: FRESH TOMATO BASIL SOUP

We went to the farmer's market this past weekend knowing that tomato season was coming very very close to the end.  We were looking to buy a couple of cases of tomatoes and knew it would be difficult to find some that the prices were not greatly inflated.  We asked several venders how much they were charging for a case of tomatoes and the answer was $25.  We got down to about the 7th or 8th vender and asked again and he said $10 for vine ripened beef steak and $8 for romas.  Nevertheless, we bought 2 cases and wanted more but knew we didn't have that much time to get them put up before they went bad.  So yesterday, as I worked away at my computer, Bryan put up 10 quarts of tomato juice.  I asked him to leave me out 8 of the tomatoes so that I could make some soup for dinner.  I ended up making tomato basil soup and it was DELICIOUS.  Here is the recipe for my tomato basil based on several different tomato soup recipes:

8 large beefsteak tomatoes (skinned and cored.  I boiled them for about 60 seconds and then dunked them in ice water to make the skin come off alot easier)
1 medium onion
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tbsp dried basil or 1/2 c fresh basil
2 tsp oregeno or about 3 tbsp of fresh oregeno
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can chilis (I froze some Hatch chilis, and that is what I used)  you can also use a can of rotel
1 tbsp light brown sugar
pepper to taste

cheese, fresh basil, cream...whatever you like to garnish tomato soup.  We didn't use anything but a grilled cheese :)

add olive oil to large sauce pan.  dice onions and add in to pan (some people also add celery but i'm not a big fan.)  saute onions until soft and add garlic.  while onion is sauteing, I diced the tomatoes.  Add tomatoes (juice and all), and the rest of the ingredients to the pan.  Bring to a boil on high heat.  Once boiling reduce heat to simmer.  Let simmer for at least 30 minutes stirring occasionally.  I then dipped the mixture into a blender and blended until it was the consistency I preferred which is soupy with just tiny tiny chunky pieces...just enough to feel it on your tongue going down and it didn't feel like it was a drink. 

My sweetheart who told me, as I was making it, that he didn't really like tomato soup LOVED this soup.  He also said he didn't really care for tomato soup and grilled cheese, but ate 2 grilled cheese along with his large bowl of soup.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.